John Dewey Philosopher Of Science And Freedom

The twentieth century has witnessed the blossoming of Western culture: new technology; communications and transportation systems; social, political, educational, agricultural, and medical advances. But with these changes have come the strains and tensions of conflicting interests, desires, and values within the community. John Dewey, one of America's most prolific writers of popular philosophy, believed that humankind could keep a firm hold on its destiny only if the critical intelligence of scientific method and its democratic counterpart were emphasized and promoted. Freedom of inquiry, tolerance of diverse ideas and opinions, cultural pluralism, free speech, and a willingness to cooperate in pursuit of shared values and ideals would be the springboard for social development.

Though best remembered today as a philosopher of early-childhood education through his influential 1899 work The School and Society and the essay The Child and the Curriculum, John Dewey also expended considerable thought on the progress of philosophy itself. In this striking book, first published just after the First World War in 1920, Dewey considers how, why, and when human affairs should prompt a new approach to concepts of morality and justice. How should the revelations of science in the 20th century, and its consequential technology, impact human thought? Is seeing knowledge as power philosophical supportable and desirable? Must we redefine what it means to be idealist? Where do politics and philosophy intersect? Deweys bracing explorations of these questions, and others, continue to enthrall thinking people and continue to be vitally relevantnearly a century after they were written. American educator and philosopher JOHN DEWEY (18591952) helped found the American Association of University Professors. He served as professor of philosophy at Columbia University from 1904 to 1930 and authored numerous books, including Experience and Nature (1925), Experience and Education (1938), and Freedom and Culture (1939).

This volume includes all Dewey's writings for 1938 except for Logic: The Theory of Inquiry (Volume 12 of The Later Works), as well as his 1939 Freedom and Culture, Theory of Valuation, and two items from Intelligence in the Modern World. Freedom and Culture presents, as Steven M. Cahn points out, the essence of his philosophical position: a commitment to a free society, critical intelligence, and the education required for their advance.

The problem with morality, according to Pragmatist John Dewey, is that it assumes an inherent lacking in human nature and then seeks, through constraining rules, punishment, and threat, to make humans act differently-act against their nature. This, he claims, is a battle doomed to fail. In Human Nature and Conduct, first published in 1922, Dewey brings the rigor of natural sciences to the quest for a better moral system. By studying habit, impulse, and intelligence, he arrives at a morality that is firmly rooted the context of the world, accounting for thinking humans with individual circumstances that do, indeed, make a difference when determining right and wrong. Students of sociology, philosophy, and psychology will be interested to see moral judgment investigated as a scientific question by one of America's most influential philosophers. American educator and philosopher JOHN DEWEY (1859-1952) helped found the American Association of University Professors. He served as professor of philosophy at Columbia University from 1904 to 1930 and authored numerous books, including The School and Society (1899), Experience and Nature (1925), Experience and Education (1938), and Freedom and Culture (1939).

Although primarily addressed to the general reader, the introduction and the last chapters of this work strike straight at reactionary philosophers who obstruct the philosophers who are honest searchers for wisdom.

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